Acalculia y yo

Acalculia y yo

Nunca fui una especie de cálculo de persona

Por

Gyan CA Fernando

Con ilustraciones de N.Senthilkumaran

Acalculia y yo

Algunos de ustedes por ahí, recién se levantó en un domingo por la mañana y que acaba miró, pero en realidad no comprendía el título de este artículo, probablemente están pensando que Acalculia es una joven de Europa del Este, de falda corta, tipo discoteca tarta que una vez utilizado para asociarse.

Otros, muy versado en la literatura griega clásica en sus años de formación y que sólo han tenido la ventaja de una vigorizante taza de la mañana de té podría estar pensando, con la complacencia presumida, que Acalculia debe ser uno de esos tipos Siren desagradables niñas de la mitología griega . Bueno, ya sabes Medusa y otros no?

¿Puede todo ahora levántate y ponte en la esquina de la clase!

Está todo mal! No es ni!

Para la mayoría de la gente es bastante fácil de peasy para saber que el logaritmo de cualquier cosa que sea algo-o-el-otro, justo al lado de la parte superior de sus cabezas. Para mí, la compleja fórmula matemática de dos más dos es bastante fácil, pero todo lo demás es un desafío.

The Train Halt with No Name

The Train Halt with No Name

A Most Curiously Named Railway Halt in Sri Lanka 

or 

Train Halt No 1

 

by

Gyan C A Fernando

Cartoon by N. Senthilkumaran

Many crowded trains pass through this station daily on the busy Coast Line of Sri Lanka to and from the capital, Colombo. Of the thousands of passengers who pass this rail halt not many know how it got its curious name.

Not many trains stop here anyway.

MORE

The Sportsman in me and other Beasts

The Sportsman in me and other Beasts

By

Gyan C A Fernando

Illustrated by N. Senthilkumaran

“Success is not really important. Everyone loves success. Everyone wants to do things well. But we all know that people are really good at doing things badly. Failure is the thing that we are best at. This is the difference between people and animals and we must not think that failure is bad.”

Stephen Pile, the author of “The Book of Heroic Failures”

I was never good at sports or I was good at it. It is a matter of opinion.

 I achieved my first major and historical victory in the field of sports; a long, long time ago in August 1959, when I come last in the Sack Race at the Sports Meet day at my old school, cheered by all! 

Think Plastic or Swim

Think Plastic or Swim

 My Efforts to Counter Global Warming

By

 Gyan C A Fernando

With illustrations by N. Senthilkumaran

Drastic events need drastic action! That is what I always say when I’ve had a beer, or two. They have been sinking for years, not the beers; and no one has done anything for them except generate a lot of hot air in Geneva and in New York.

Unlike them, I am a Man of Action, a sort of a Superman or a Minor Deity!  You know what I mean, don’t you?  No?

Go Easy on the Confetti, Please!

Go Easy on the Confetti, Please!

By

Gyan C A Fernando

Illustrated by N. Senthilkumaran

Life sometimes brings up pleasant little surprises!

Take this morning, for instance: I discovered that I could get married for just Rs30! Not that I want get married again, but isn’t that a pleasant little surprise?

Stamps and Philately

The Sticky World of Stamps and Philately

By

Gyan C A Fernando

Illustrated by N. Senthilkumaran

The other day I was extolling the virtues of stamp collecting, in particular the aesthetics, the tranquil and genteel aspects of this hobby etc. for the benefit of a very young and impressionable son of a friend of mine, when my grown up niece Samanmalie, aka “Sam”, butted in. 

Want to buy some fake sapphires?

Pssst! Want to buy some fake Sapphires…?

 By

Gyan C A Fernando

Illustrated by N Senthilkumaran

T

he good old Republic of Sri Lanka is famous for some of the nicest precious stones in the world and as one might expect, most Sri Lankans seem to be obsessed with buying, selling, acquiring or mining; legally or illegally, mostly the latter.

"El Bandido", my Paraguayan business partner

Most refer to precious stones as Gems but quite often as Gem’s (sic), with a total disregard for the correct usage of the apostrophe.

Gem’s..er…I mean Gems… are rather nice, but they tend to bring out the baser instincts of Srilankan-kind.

Galloping Inflation

Galloping Inflation, Running Bears and a lot of Bull

How a Family Game of Monopoly turned into Economic Chaos

By

Gyan C A Fernando

Illustrated by N. Senthilkumaran

Any family card game or board game that we undertake in our household has a tendency to descend into chaos. Most blame me of course and accuse me of cheating, which I don’t, but I do admit that I have a tendency to bend the rules. 

Match me against my niece Samanmalee, aka Sam (pretty, 35+), and things become totally mired. For a start, Sam has a broadband brain combined with a 100 gigahertz clock speed, plus a loud mouth. She can also turn her charm on and off rapidly to suit the circumstances.

The other day, we were all at a loose end and decided to play a game of Monopoly to pass the time.

Tintin in Sri Lanka

TINTIN: An adventure like no other

By

Gyan C. A. Fernando

Illustrated by N. Senthilkumaran (with apologies to Herge’)

The other day I went to see the Tintin movie at the Liberty Cinema in the company of my young nephew and his lovely fiancée. I wanted to see it on the big screen but was rather reluctant to go on my own, so the young couple took pity on the old Uncle and off we went. Mind you, I did pay for the tickets!

Getambe Jones and The Lost Railway Halt

“Getambe” Jones and the Lost Railway Halt

By

Gyan C A Fernando

Illustrated by N. Senthilkumaran 

I suppose, as usual, it all started off in my childhood. As a youngster, amongst other things, I wanted to be an explorer. At that time explorers were celebrities. One of the famous, some might say notorious, explorer-archaeologist was Howard Carter. Carter discovered and plundered the late boy-King Tutankhamen’s pyramid.

Then there was Hiram Bingham who “discovered” and plundered the “Lost City” of Macchu Picchu in Peru and is now immortalised in having a touristy and expensive train named after him, the train that runs from Cuzco to Aguas Caliente in Peru.